The New Old Age: Among the many things that Ellen Goodman has done — written a widely syndicated column, published books, won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary, given probably hundreds of talks on topics from friendship and feminism to bioethics — is this familiar job: She’s been a family caregiver.
She traces her latest mission, leading a new campaign called the Conversation Project, to her role as “designated daughter” for her mother, who died five years ago at age 92. “She had dementia and was no longer able to decide what she wanted for lunch, let alone medical decisions,” Ms. Goodman told me in an interview.